Killer Queen
by Chibi-Shibi
Summary: A story about a very special case that auror Harry Potter has to solve.


**For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Beater 2 of Pride of Portree (Written by Chaser 3)**

**Main Prompt: Don't stop me now("I don't want to stop at all")**

**Optional prompts: Killer Queen, drugs**

**Word Count: ~2478**

* * *

The sound of footsteps echoes down the otherwise silent alleyway. A hooded figure walks alone in the cold night, creeping stealthily in the shadows.

When the figure reaches the end of the alley, an old brick wall, it extends its arm, holding out a slender, elegant wand. The spell the figure whispers is heard by no one, despite the deathly quiet of the night. The wall glows softly, just for a moment, before sliding away to reveal a path. The figure steps through and disappears from sight, leaving only a trail of blood from the long, dark cloak and soiled shoes.

* * *

"You couldn't possibly think that Lucius is the one who did all this!" Narcissa cries, tears forming in her eyes. She clings onto the arm of her husband desperately, even as the Auror tries to pull him away from her.

"Please, stand back, Mrs Malfoy. I will have to make you do so, even though I don't want to," Harry says as kindly as he can.

Narcissa hesitates, but Draco puts a hand on her shoulder. When she turns to look at him, he too is crying, but he is far more composed than she is managing to be.

"Mum, I know it's hard, but you have to let him go-" Draco tries to pry his mother's hands away from his father.

"Draco! I didn't do it. You _know_ I didn't, Son! Please, can't you tell Auror Potter?" Lucius begs his son, but Draco, emotional as he is, firmly stands his ground.

Seeing him, Narcissa too resigns herself to the situation and lets her husband go. After all, she is _Narcissa Malfoy,_ and Malfoy women are practically Wizarding royalty. They do not cry in public, and they do not create a scene.

Harry begins to mumble his apologies as he is leaving. Lucius fights and struggles all the way. One look from Draco tells Harry that silence is the better alternative with the now-broken family.

When the two remaining Malfoys are certain that Harry has truly left with Lucius, Narcissa makes an attempt to compose herself. She wonders if she looks a mess; tears streaming down her cheeks and her hair in disarray. No, she _knows_ she looks a mess, and somehow that seems irreprehensible. She has to retain what little dignity this family has left, after the effects of the War, Draco almost abandoning their family name due to the 'restrictions' that were placed on him, and now this. The Malfoys cannot afford another scandal.

"Did you know about the drugs? The... the _Strix_... is that what it's called?" Draco asks her suddenly, breaking her train of thought.

She pauses a bit before replying. She isn't sure if she can trust him yet.

"Yes. He never stopped talking about how wonderful it was. How good it made him feel. How he could float and fly and do anything he ever wanted. I... I tried it once, too."

Draco sits up straight at her confession. She can tell from his expression that he is contemplating reporting this to the Aurors, and her heart starts beating all the faster. '_He is your son. He won't do anything to hurt you so badly. But...he just let Lucius be arrested. By his own boyfriend, no less. Will he…?'_

Internally, she heaves a sigh of relief when seeing the conflict on his face fade away. '_He's not going to tell Harry,' _she realises. She continues.

"I didn't like it. I felt as though I couldn't control my own actions. I... I didn't enjoy the feeling, Draco. But he did, oh so much. The truth is, he hasn't quite been himself since the war. So when he found something that made him happy, even if it was only artificially, I didn't object, I couldn't. But I didn't know it would lead to... to… this. I didn't know it had such terrifying effects on his mind."

Narcissa feels her eyes welling up with tears yet again, and she dabs them away with a perfumed handkerchief.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here, Mum." Draco sounds apologetic enough, but she isn't sure if she believes him. So, she takes the safest route: nodding without saying anything at all.

"I just didn't realise what he meant when he said he could do _anything_ and no one could stop him. I never thought it could be this, or anything so terrible. I'm sorry for not seeing it sooner, Son."

Draco says nothing, and the two of them sit in an uncomfortable silence for a while. Before long he decides it is best for him to leave. The goodbyes are formal, forced even, and once the green flames of the Floo die down, she is left truly alone. A slight smile touches her lips.

She sits down on the old velvet cushioned chair that Lucius loves so much. She doesn't know why she chooses this specific chair, but it still smells of his cologne, and so she stays.

There is something oddly empowering about being alone in the Manor. _Really_ alone. Completely, and without expecting her husband to come back any moment. It is almost... liberating. She is still lost in contemplation when the house elf asks her what dinner will be.

"Quiche," she says without hesitation.

'_Lucius hates quiche.'_

* * *

Draco knocks on the door again, this time he is more impatient. Usually, he would have taken the Floo, but there seems to be something strange going on with Harry's Floo connection. So here he is, standing in front of Harry's door.

When Harry finally opens it, Draco ducks inside quickly, closing and warding the door behind them both.

"I was thinking of visiting you myself. I need some details on these murders," Harry begins, somberly. This is not a personal conversation, they both know that.

Draco nods in reply. "I'll tell you what you need, but first, did you find the dealers of Strix? The ones who sold it to my father, I mean." His voice sounds very urgent and anxious.

"Not yet," Harry responds. "But why do you sound so concerned about it? Your father is in custody and-"

"I think my mother is taking it," Draco mutters partly in anger and partly concern. He doesn't want to admit it to Harry, even though he knows that the latter will not judge him for it. He is also angry at himself for not trying to prevent it sooner since Narcissa had confessed trying the drug to him.

"What?" Harry looks utterly shocked.

"She's been acting differently since you took Father to Az- away. She told me on the day he was arrested, that she had tried Strix once but that she didn't like it. She said that she would never do it again, and I believed her. But lately, she's been different… like she is experiencing some sort of euphoria. She constantly mutters about how nothing can stop her, and she can do anything. That is exactly what she told me Father said when he took the drug. She said that 's_he is finally the queen she always deserved to be_.' I've been visiting her a lot, but she always seems to prefer my absence to my company, when before, she used to ask me to come and see her every other day. Something is wrong, Harry, and I think this drug is to blame."

Harry has slumped down into the couch while Draco was talking. He is wearing a conflicted expression on his face.

"I... I wanted to ask you things like your father's temperament towards the victims and if he had ever taken drugs before, but now I think we have a more immediate problem. I'm not saying your mother will become a... like him. But the drug has the strangest of side effects, and taking it is illegal, as you know. If I report your mother…"

His voice trails off, and for a while, both men sit deep in thought. Draco knows what the reporting will mean. A punishment for Narcissa, albeit one that is less than the one for Lucius. Still, he does not wish for both of his parents to go through it. As it is, the wizarding world is somewhat hostile to them still, despite their attempts to make amends.

"I wanted to tell you, that something doesn't add up in Lucius' case, Draco," Harry says, and Draco knows he is trying to change the topic, if only to a slightly less grave one.

"What do you mean? I thought it was open and shut. My father committed the murders under the influence of Strix. Isn't that it?" Draco asks. Harry shakes his head.

"I wish it were that simple, but it doesn't seem to be. The drug makes people act a certain way, yes, but your father's behaviour does not check all the boxes to verify his guilt. Also, we can't find a link between one of the victims and your father, while all the others were people he clearly had an enmity with. Lastly, we can't seem to trace the wand which cast those portal spells. It's not his. We think he had an accomplice, perhaps."

Draco stares at his boyfriend, mouth agape. Harry's expression turns sad as he continues.

"Despite all this, if no one else is suspected of this crime, he _will_ be convicted, Draco. He is the lead suspect."

Draco takes a deep breath. "I think I need some time, Harry," he says, getting up. "I need some time to process all of this. I'll see you later, okay?"

Harry nods understandingly, and the two men hug before Draco walks out of the door.

* * *

Harry suddenly looks up from his pile of parchments with a particularly gruesome picture of one of the victims of the murders on top. A hundred thoughts are whirling around his head, and all of them point to something dangerous.

_Edward Parkinson's death, the only one that doesn't add up with the others. _

_The wand that was used to cast the spell, according to Ollivander, clearly a unicorn hair, while Lucius' was dragon heartstring. _

_The fact that the drug makes people violent, but also messy and uncontrolled, while the spellwork on the bodies is too clean, too precise, in its chaos, almost as if someone was trying to be messy on purpose._

_Narcissa's claims of her husband taking way more Strix than he admitted to._

_Narcissa's newfound obsession with freedom and her ability to do anything, and no one can stop her. Not even Lucius. Not even the Aurors. _

_Narcissa Malfoy._

"Good job, Potter," comes a voice from behind him, and he turns to find a familiar figure standing against the wall of his office.

"Narcissa? What? How?" he stutters, unable to form words with the doubled surprise of his realisations and her presence. "Why are you here?" he asks, when he can finally speak again.

Narcissa smiles in answer. "I think you know."

"Maybe I do, but enlighten me anyway." Harry knows talking to her in this manner is dangerous, but he is furious and terrified, and he wants to know what was going on in her mind. He would have never suspected her outright, especially at the beginning of the case, and now his curiosity has taken over his rationality.

"I got tired of waiting for you to figure it out, Potter, so I decided to help you. Just before you came into the room, I placed that picture in your pile. Did you never wonder why you didn't see it before?" "It's one I took myself. It shows off the spellwork beautifully, does it not?" She smiles in a way that scares him and sends a chill down his spine. She is really and truly _proud_ of what she has done. There is not a hint of remorse in her. His voice turns cold.

"Why are you _here_, Narcissa?" he repeats.

She walks closer to him, and he backs away slowly. "You see, I wanted to have the pleasure of being the one to watch you when you realised what was happening. I have always, _always_ disliked you, Potter, ever since you stole my son away from me and turned him into...a disgusting creature like you. And now I have even more reason to kill you! Isn't it wonderful?" There is pure glee in her voice. Harry slowly inches towards the Floo, hoping she wouldn't notice.

She does, however, and laughs aloud. "Oh no, don't try the Floo, it won't work. I have been placing these charms, one by one, on your house. You can't Floo, use a portkey, apparate, or summon your wand from the other room anymore."

He realises that he is effectively locked in a room with a dangerous murderer and she is at an advantage, with her wand. He has to keep her talking until he can think of a way to save himself.

"Why would you...why all of this? Surely there was an easier way to 'get rid' of Lucius, as it were?" He hopes she will take the bait and launch into a story about her motivations.

"Of course, but then could I have taken revenge on the others? Edward Parkinson, for example. I know you were struggling with that one. Well, he used to frequently prank the other Slytherin girls and me, back in Hogwarts."

Harry sighs internally. It seems almost childish for her to have kept a grudge for so long.

"So you killed him?" he asks, unable to understand why she is being so foolish.

"Of course! It's beautiful, the ability to take a life, isn't it? It's exhilarating. Which is why I must take yours, Harry Potter. I'm having a great time, you see. I couldn't let the danger of you figuring everything out, take that away from me."

Harry Potter doesn't shiver from fright often, but now he is quaking in his shoes. The gravity of his situation hits him like a truck. She is going to kill him, and tonight.

"Please, Narcissa. Don't do this." He hopes his voice doesn't sound desperate, but seeing her expression, he knows he had already lost.

"Oh, but I must. I'm out of control, harry. I'm having a ball, just looking at the fear in your face. Don't stop me, now, Harry." She walks even closer, looking more regal than ever. _Like a Queen in Wizarding chess, making her final move to win. _"Ah, foolish me; you _can't_ stop me now," she says, when she is close enough that her wand is touching his throat.

"Narcissa, you know you want to stop this! End this now, please!" He tries appealing to some fraction of kindness in her as a final resort.

"Avada Kedavra," she replies, with a glint in her eye, just as the spell hits him.

"Oops, Potter. I think I don't want to stop at all."


End file.
